Monitoring large and complex environments is a challenging task for security operators because situations evolve quickly, information is distributed across multiple screens and systems, uncertainty is rampant, decisions can have high risk and far reaching consequences. Responses must be quick and coordinated when problems occur.
Many existing security systems perform monitoring by having operators utilize a series of cameras. Current camera monitoring systems are often limited to mouse and keyboard input from a single person which is error prone and slow.
In addition, current systems often do not provide users with context in terms of where cameras are located, their current orientation relative to the environment, and what is in the current camera's viewable range. Touch interactive systems that rely on intuitive gestures as input from users offer a significant opportunity to better support camera monitoring and manipulation, which can improve situation awareness and response for security operators.
The increased market present of single-touch and multi-touch interaction devices such as the iPhone, GPS navigators, HP TouchSmart laptop, Microsoft Surface and Blackberry mobile devices offer a significant opportunity to investigate new gesture-based interaction techniques that can improve operator performance during complex monitoring and response tasks.